Man's death in Baytown police custody under investigation

Published 5:30 am, Thursday, August 21, 2008

Authorities are trying to determine whether an altercation between personnel at the Baytown city jail and an inmate there contributed to his death hours later.

The inmate, Richard Ernest Mathes, was found dead in his cell at 5:12 p.m. Aug. 5 at the jail, 3100 N. Main.

Preliminary autopsy findings indicate that Mathes, 50, had "internal physical trauma" severe enough to cause death. Authorities said they are trying to determine how he was injured and if those injuries occurred during the altercation.

Police learned of the incident while investigating Mathes' death, according to a news release from the Baytown Police Department.

Mathes was intoxicated when a city marshal took him into custody for outstanding municipal warrants Aug. 1, police said.

The next day, they said, he was treated at a hospital for an illness related to his long-term alcohol addiction and was returned to the jail.

Days later, Mathes became agitated and aggressive, refusing to stop standing on a bench in the cell.

Jailers described Mathes as "behaving irrationally," according to the department. He refused to cooperate when jail personnel tried to move him to a cell with padded walls.

In the news release, they said jailers "had to use physical force to transfer Mathes to the less harsh cell environment."

The goal, they said, was to prevent Mathes from harming himself.

Mathes was later found unresponsive in the padded cell, where paramedics pronounced him dead, according to police.

Citing the ongoing investigation, Baytown Police Capt. Roger Clifford declined to comment on how long Mathes was in the cell alone.

"Generally, we do periodic checks," on inmates, he said. "I would love to tell you more, but can't."

No suspensions

Clifford said no officers have been suspended or disciplined as a result of Mathes' death.

He denied any delay in releasing information on the death, noting a brief statement was issued on the Baytown police's Web site acknowledging that there had been "a deceased inmate at the jail."

A longer news release was not issued, he said, because the initial problem appeared to that Mathes was "sick from alcohol."

"The initial information was one thing, and then as the investigation continued, it showed something else," Clifford explained.

Toxicology tests lengthy

The news release was warranted, Clifford said, when the medical examiner reported that the death was caused from internal injuries.

The Harris County Medical Examiner will determine Mathes' official cause of death. The timeline on the release of the findings is unknown, a spokesman said Thursday.

Clifford noted some tests, such as toxicology, can take weeks.

"I want the public to know that we want to be as transparent as possible," he said.

Baytown police said they have questioned jail personnel who were present at the time and are cooperating with the Harris County District Attorney's Office in the ongoing investigation.

"They know everything. We are cooperating fully," Clifford said.

Mathes was arrested in July 2006 for criminal trespass in Harris County and served 30 days in jail. He served 180 days for assault with a deadly weapon in a September 2001 incident. In 1999, he was convicted of driving with a suspended license and served 20 days after failing to appear in court.

His Baytown traffic violations included driving with no insurance, no driver's license, following too closely behind another vehicle, leaving the scene of a wreck without stopping to give information and failure to appear in court.